The commission of inquiry for elucidating the circumstances of the presupposed interference by the “Open Dialog” Foundation in Moldova’s internal affairs and financing of political parties held the second and last round of hearings on November 12. Representatives of “Promo-LEX” Association and the leaders of PAS and PPPDA were invited to the hearings. The latter said they refuse to take part in the hearings if the press does not have access, IPN reports.
In a news conference after the hearings, the commission’s chairman Igor Vremea said the hearings were held behind closed doors because the information provided by the state institutions cannot be made public at the current stage. Of those invited today, only the representatives of “Promo-LEX” came. Even if Maia Sandu and Andrei Năstase refused to come, the commission will compile and approve a report based on the accumulated information. They will make approaches for the largest part of the report to be made public.
Coming to the Parliament Building, but refusing to take part in the closed hearings, Maia Sandu and Andrei Năstase told the press that this is a farce and there are no plausible agreements for the discussions to be held behind closed doors. “As we do not have the obligation to obey the state secret, it means that these commission members cannot discuss state secrets with us. If they cannot discuss state secrets with us, it means the information they can present to us can also be presented to the general public. We do not have what to discuss behind closed doors with these people as they cannot seek explanations from us,” stated the PAS leader Maia Sandu, noting that if they have to answer, they will do it before the citizens, not before persons with serious integrity-related problems. PPPDA leader Andrei Năstase said a commission without any competence was created. “Since when do they have to be judges in their own case of usurpation of power? These individuals, in the absence of arguments against our parties and us as leaders, resorted to a farce and intellectual terrorism,” he noted.
In an informative note, “Promo-LEX” said it cannot be regarded as a part involved in the investigation into the interference by the Foundation “Open Dialog” in Moldova’s internal affairs as such interference, from its viewpoint, is an of which the law enforcement agencies are in charge. On the other hand, the subject of the summons concerning the financing of Moldovan political parties is an area monitored by the association and, given its mission to contribute to improving the quality and increasing the people’s confidence in democratic processes in Moldova, “Promo-LEX” is ready to present the concerns, conclusions and main recommendations of the reports on party funding in Moldova to the MPs.
A group of MPs of the Democratic Party sent letters to a number of Moldovan state institutions, asking to investigate the possible actions against the Republic of Moldova by the president of the Foundation “Otwarty Dialog” (“Open Dialogue”) Ludmila Kozlowska, who has Russian and Ukrainian nationalities and who was recently expelled from Poland and the EU for having ties with the Russian secret services. The MPs requested to probe the ties of Ludmila Kozlowska and “Otwarty Dialog” with the political parties PAS and PPPDA, including possible aspects related to the illegal financing or provision of benefits to the given parties.
